Cinema - French films - 1920s

French cinema: 1920s (Page 1 of 2)

L’Argent (1928)

Marcel L’Herbier

Nicolas Saccard and Alphonse Gunderman are two business rivals who are locked in a bitter feud. Whilst Saccard is a ruthless speculator, Gunderman is more cautious and honest, and it is the latter who is more successful. Having nearly been ruined by his rival, Saccard attempts to raise new capital for his company, La Banque Universale... [More...]

L’Atlantide (1921)

Jacques Feyder

In the Sahara Desert, the unconscious body of Lieutenant Saint-Avit is discovered by fellow officers in his Spahi regiment. When he recovers, Saint-Avit is questioned about the disappearance of his comrade, Captain Morhange, who accompanied him on his last expedition in the desert to look for the lost city of Atlantis... [More...]

Le Bled (1929)

Jean Renoir

On a streamer bound for Algeria, Pierre Hofer meets and is enchanted by the beautiful Claudie Duvernet, who is travelling to Algeria to collect her vast inheritance. Claudie is being pursued by some unscrupulous relatives, including the cruel Manuel, who intend to rob her of her new-found fortune. Fortunately, Pierre is on hand to thwart their schemes..... [More...]

Carmen (1926)

Jacques Feyder

Having killed a man in a duel, Don José Lizzarabengoa is forced to flee his home in Navarre. Arriving in Castille, he enlists in the army and soon becomes a sergeant in the regiment at Almanza. It is here that his life takes an even more dramatic turn, when he encounters a Spanish gypsy girl named Carmen... [More...]

Catherine (1924)

Albert Dieudonné

In the provincial town of Varance, Catherine Ferrand, an orphan, is employed as housemaid to Georges Mallet, a prominent local councillor. Mallet’s wife, a sour vindictive woman, turns against Catherine and has her dismissed. Fortunately, Mallet finds a place for Catherine with his sister, Madame Laisné, who lives in Nice with her chronically ill and depressed son, Maurice... [More...]

La Chute de la maison Usher (1928)

Jean Epstein

As his beloved wife Madeleine succumbs to a mysterious illness, Sir Roderick Usher invites his old friend Allan to his castle to comfort him. Allan has difficulty finding someone to drive him to the Usher homestead; the locals appear to be terrified of the name Usher, as though it bore the imprint of an ancient curse... [More...]

Coeur fidèle (1923)

Jean Epstein

In the port of Marseille, Marie works as a serving girl in a shabby bar owned by her cruel adopted parents, Monsieur and Madame Honchon. She is in love with Jean, a sympathetic dockworker, but the Honchons intend that she should marry Petit Paul, a good-for-nothing thug with a violent nature. Submissively, Marie allows Petit Paul to drag her off to a fair where he claims her as his bride... [More...]

La Coquille et le clergyman (1928)

Germaine Dulac

A clergyman experiences a bizarre sequence of fantasies that torment him and test his faith to the limit. He has fallen for a beautiful woman, the wife of a proud general, and this obsession provokes image after image in his increasingly heated brain. He sees himself kill the general; he sees himself chase after the beautiful woman... [More...]

Crainquebille (1922)

Jacques Feyder

For over forty years, a modest street peddler, Crainquebille, has sold vegetables from his cart in the environs of the Halles market in Paris. One day, whilst waiting for a customer to give him his change, he is accosted by a policeman who insists that he moves on. When he protests, Crainquebille is arrested, supposedly for swearing at the policeman... [More...]

Dans la nuit (1929)

Charles Vanel

A short time after his marriage, a quarry worker is injured in a rock blast. His face scarred beyond recognition, he must wear a metal face mask and work night shifts. Whilst he is away at work, his wife takes a lover… [More...]

Eldorado (1921)

Marcel L’Herbier

Rejected by her former lover and protector, Sibilla is forced to work as a dancer in a bawdy Spanish night club to earn the money she needs to buy medicine for her sick son. She also works as a model for a Scandinavian artist Hedwick who, she discovers, is planning a secret rendez-vous with his lover, on the evening of her engagement to another man... [More...]

Emak-Bakia (1926)

Man Ray

A series of unidentifiable black and white images, flashing flakes, dancing pins… A neon sign broadcasts the day’s news. Then, more unfathomable images, perhaps a corridor traversed in a state of drunken intoxication or half-sleep… The images become more abstract, more erratic, and finally we see a woman’s eye between a car’s headlights... [More...]

Entr’acte (1924)

René Clair

Two men approach a canon and fire it. Rifle-range dummies sway in the wind. A dancing ballerina turns into a strange bearded man. Two men on a roof-top terrace play a game of chess. A funeral procession, moving in slow motion, follows a coffin pulled by a camel. What can it all mean...? ... [More...]

L’Étoile de mer (1928)

Man Ray

As if in a dream, a man and a woman walk along a country lane. They climb a staircase and enter a room in which the woman starts to undress. The man says farewell and goes away. Later, the woman gives the man a starfish in a jar. In his room, he examines it with fascination, and, as he does so, painted lines appear on the palms of his hand... [More...]

Feu Mathias Pascal (1926)

Marcel L’Herbier

After the death of his father, Mathias Pascal learns that his family is in dire financial straits. He must abandon his dreams of an unfettered, carefree existence and finds work as an assistant librarian in the little town where he lives, Miragno. Whilst trying to court the attractive Romilde for his friend Pomino, Mathias unwittingly wins himself a bride and a foul-tempered mother-in-law... [More...]

La Fille de l’eau (1925)

Jean Renoir

After the death of her father, a barge man, Virginie has no one but her cruel uncle Jef. But he merely squanders his inheritance and sells the barge, before attempting to rape his niece. Virginie flees into the countryside where she is befriended by a young poacher, ‘the Ferret’, who teaches her his trade... [More...]

La Glace à trois faces (1927)

Jean Epstein

Three very different women are anxiously awaiting the return of their lover and, as they do so, they re-live their recent happiness with him. Pearl, an English society lady, is swept of her feet by the elegant young financier, but all too soon his love for her turns cold. A strong-willed Russian sculptress, Athalia, is his next victim... [More...]

L’Homme du large (1920)

Marcel L’Herbier

Off the coast of Brittany, Nolff earns his living as a fisherman, and hopes that his son Michel will follow in his footsteps. However, Michel has no such aspirations, preferring to spend his days and nights with his dissolute friends in the nearby town. When his mother dies, Michel steals some money left by her to his sister Dejenna... [More...]

L’Inhumaine (1924)

Marcel L’Herbier

A young scientist, Einar Norsen, has fallen in love with the world famous singer Claire Lescot. She of course rejects his mad protestations of love, and, heart-broken, Einar resolves to kill himself. The scientist then decides to use his discovery of resurrecting the dead to win the object of his desire… ... [More...]

L’Invitation au voyage (1927)

Germaine Dulac

Tired of being ignored by her husband, a young woman heads off one evening to a nautical-themed nightclub that is frequented by rowdy sailors. Here, her attention is captured by an impossibly handsome naval officer. He is drawn irresistibly to her table and the two dance and share a drink together. The woman’s desires compel her to imagine a future life of freedom and happiness, far from the empty domestic life that is her current lot... [More...]

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